A blog launched on the 41st anniversary of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), the first pro-life organisation in the world, established on 11 January 1967. SPUC has been a leader in the educational and political battle against abortion, human embryo experimentation and euthanasia since then. I write this blog in my role as SPUC's chief executive, commenting on pro-life news, reflecting on pro-life issues and promoting SPUC's work.

Friday, 17 June 2011

A powerful pro-life analysis of the dangers of legalising assisted suicide

Ann Farmer, a stalwart pro-life author, has kindly sent me a letter (below) which she sent to the editor of The Telegraph in response to a column by Vicki Woods. The Telegraph didn't publish her letter, which is very sad as it is a powerful and insightful analysis of the dangers of legalising assisted suicide. Ann wrote:

Dear Sir,

Vicki Woods reveals that she and her husband have argued about which of them should assist the other to commit suicide, and which should "face Plod afterwards" should the occasion arise, maintaining: "We have the right to live as we want - why not the right to die as we want?" ('If I decide to end it all, I'll do it my way', Telegraph, June 11, 2011). But the fact is we don't have the unlimited right to live as we want, and this includes the taking of our own lives and the lives of others. What we do affects other people, and should our society, as she appears to desire, accept the 'right' of people to kill themselves or their close relatives, such 'private' decisions will affect other people. Not only will we create an atmosphere under which vulnerable people will be driven to commit suicide because they feel a burden on their closest relatives, but there will be cases where the closest relatives will be placed under pressure to accept someone's decision to commit suicide even though they disagree, and will be made to feel guilty for prolonging the life of someone who wishes to exercise a private choice instead of considering care options. It is well known that suicide is 'catching' and that the bereaved will suffer deep emotional trauma and may themselves decide to take their own lives - indeed, some suicide campaigners have advocated that bereaved relatives should also be helped to commit suicide. And if the 'right' to suicide should be made legal, all sorts of 'services' will no doubt spring up to faciliate and profit from suicide - and why not? What appears at first sight to be a private matter is in fact a matter of great public interest; that is why we have laws against it. The disastrous effects of our recent 'softening up' of the law is demonstrated by Vicki Woods' call for assisted suicide "at a time of your own choosing. By someone you know and love. In a nice place like your own home, instead of that creepy Swiss set-up, Dignitas." I venture to suggest that it would be even more creepy should one's nearest and dearest turn from caring to killing, either because do not wish to care or because they are made to feel uncaring by not acquiescing in the decision. Vicki Woods regrets the fact that she returned her late mother's supply of morphine to the clinic: "I should have kept them in the top cupboard, against the day"; the future is unpredictable but one thing can be predicted with a certain amount of confidence: if the law changes as she would wish, and she should change her mind about being killed, it may be too late for regrets.

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John Smeaton

About me

I became involved in SPUC after graduating, when I established a branch in south London in 1974. I have worked full-time for SPUC for 33 years. I became director of SPUC in the UK in 1996, having been general secretary since 1978. I was elected vice-president of International Right to Life Federation in 2005. At UN conferences in Cairo, Copenhagen, Beijing, Istanbul and Rome, I helped coordinate more than 150 pro-life/pro-family groups resulting in pro-life victories in Cairo, Istanbul and Rome. I was educated at Salesian College, London, before going to Oxford where I graduated in English Language and Literature. I qualified as a teacher, becoming head of English at a secondary school. I am married to Josephine. We have a grown-up family and we live in north London.

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